Case Study
Example of Virutal Teamwork Here at Killer Dolphins we always want to push our knowledge to the next level. Here we have a case study we performed that involved a contained scenario of Virtual Teamwork. We did this so we may connect what we see in the case study to that in this wiki. The process the participants in the experiment took was a relatively simple one made challenging. We divided the room up into groups of 4 and labeled them either A or B (as in Team A or Team B). We had the A's and B's pair up and it was B's job to communicate a project for their Team A to perform. The task was to build a paper airplane. Sounds easy right? Well in order to have them exemplify what we wanted to show we sent B out of the room with nothing but the stuff they brought that day and a list of names and emails of Team A. They then had 13 minutes to communicate through whatever means possible to team A the steps required to build a paper airplane without Team B ever being in the room. This turned out to be more challenging then one may think. The Results The picture in this wiki is the results of the 4 pairs of teams we had. Each team followed the rules properly and efficently and were very creative on how they were to build their airplanes. We polled the results and we declared success for 2 of the teams, failure for the other 2. The one key difference in the teams was that the ones who had succeeded did not stick to just email. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted provided that Team A and B didn't physically interact. What led teams to success One of the key factors that the first 2 succeeding teams had over the other 2 failing teams was that people on teams A and B had previous outstanding relationships with each other. They could easily talk and lay down a plan where two strangers would be timid about the situation. They had previous phone numbers and chat utility information which made them use little to no email and get the job done. This success factor lead directly into our discussion of Trust and Relationships in that there was an aspect of trust between the two teams and it gave way to their success. The teams that did not succeed ran into some very basic problems that can occur with Virtual Teams. Things from a lack of laptops, their indecisiveness, and overall lack of inspiration cost them very valuable time in the activity. For any teams who need help getting off the ground, a good page to check out is the Challenges in Maintaining Team Dynamics page. It goes over the common problems a Virtual Team may have when starting a new or just needing to get back on track. Whilst walking around and watching the groups perform their tasks, the successful Team B's stood out from the unsuccessful ones because they used video chatting software to connect to their Team A. This was quite the gain in their part because they got to hold up the picture instructions to the web camera for Team A to clearly see and work off of. This is a great example of Maintaining Direction and Leadership as there was one person who called the shots and an easy way to see what had to be done next. The groups who failed had commented after the fact that half the time they had was determining how they were going to get a hold of each other. Some wanted to do email, some wanted to exchange numbers, and the overall conflict of the team kept them from starting the project. Groups who are performing tasks in a Virtual setting need to adress conflict as quickly and efficently as possible because one misscommunication can cause a world of hurt for the project's productivity. This example ties in directly to our discussion on Conflict Management which helps any Virtual Team members quickly indentify conflicts and discusses what conflict can do to a Virtual Team.